Jill Stein

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Jill Ellen Stein (born May 14, 1950) is an American doctor and activist who has run for president as the Green Party candidate three times: 2012, 2016, and 2024. She was also the Green-Rainbow Party candidate for Governor of Massachusetts in 2002 and 2010.

Early life and career
- Born in Chicago and raised in Highland Park, Illinois.
- Her father was a lawyer and her mother was a homemaker. She grew up in a Reform Jewish family.
- Stein graduated magna cum laude from Harvard College in 1973 with a focus on psychology, sociology, and anthropology, then earned a medical degree from Harvard Medical School in 1979.
- She worked as a physician in the Boston area for about 25 years and taught at Harvard Medical School.
- As a doctor, she connected health to the environment and became an activist for cleaner air and against coal plant pollution.

Political career
- Stein left the Democratic Party and joined the Green Party in 2002 after campaigning for campaign finance reform.
- Massachusetts Governor campaigns: 2002 (lost to Mitt Romney) and 2010 (lost to Deval Patrick). She also ran for the Green-Rainbow Party for Secretary of the Commonwealth in 2006.
- Presidential runs:
- 2012: Chose Cheri Honkala as running mate. They were defeated by Barack Obama and Joe Biden.
- 2016: Ran with Ajamu Baraka. They criticized both major parties as corporate-run and argued for major changes to U.S. policy. Stein’s campaign helped raise attention to the Green Party, and she supported efforts to recount the 2016 election in Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania, though the recounts were not successful.
- 2024: Announced a third presidential bid on November 9, 2023, with running mate Butch Ware. The campaign focused on anti-war policies, universal healthcare, free public education, a Green New Deal, and strong worker rights.

Key positions and moments
- Economic and political reform: Advocates for an Economic Bill of Rights (living wages, housing, healthcare, education, retirement, clean water, etc.), campaign finance reform, and ranked-choice voting.
- Healthcare and economy: Supports Medicare for All and canceling all student loan debt by using public mechanisms like Federal Reserve actions; wants to nationalize and democratize the Federal Reserve and create nonprofit public banks.
- Energy and environment: Calls for a strong transition to renewable energy, a national ban on fracking, ending subsidies for harmful practices, and opposing nuclear energy.
- Foreign policy and war: Critical of U.S. military interventions, drones, and many foreign aid policies; supports reducing U.S. military spending and reevaluating defense treaties and NATO. She has expressed support for Palestinian rights and a critical view of U.S. actions in the Middle East.
- Civil rights and social issues: Has called for reparations for slavery and supports broader civil rights efforts. She has highlighted racial disparities in the justice system.
- In 2017–2018, the Senate Intelligence Committee examined her campaign for possible ties to Russia, but Stein was not found to have colluded with Russia. Later reports noted Russian-linked activity that may have favored her campaign, though there was no evidence she knew about it. Stein defended herself and remained active in political work, including participation in RT events.

Personal life
- Stein is married to Richard Rohrer, a physician, and they live in Lexington, Massachusetts. They have two sons. In the 1990s, she sang in a folk-rock duo called Somebody’s Sister.

Impact
- Stein is one of a small number of women who have received more than a million votes in a U.S. presidential election. Her campaigns have kept alive the possibility of third-party options in American politics and have pushed Green Party ideas into public discussion.